Maybe people are favoring ebooks (my reason for not nominating more books).

That was my issue for adding support to the originally nominated books as well. The time period can probably be blamed, but I do wonder if 5 nominations is too many. I'm not going to second a book I haven't investigated beyond the posted blurb and it's a lot of work to do that due diligence to use up all 5 nominations.

I say leave the 5 nominations. Maybe it was a slow month. Maybe it is a weak category. Maybe people are favoring ebooks (my reason for not nominating more books).

Yes people definitely favor books available as ebooks. The problem with that policy is that it in turn favors books old enough to be in the public domain or recent enough so that release as an ebook generally occurs simultaneously with the paper book release. That makes any time period from about 1930 to 2000 problematic. That's a lot of great literary works no matter what the category.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Synamon

That was my issue for adding support to the originally nominated books as well. The time period can probably be blamed, but I do wonder if 5 nominations is too many. I'm not going to second a book I haven't investigated beyond the posted blurb and it's a lot of work to do that due diligence to use up all 5 nominations.

I know that you do not mean this to the logical end, but taken at that each person would nominate their own choice or choices and not second (or third, fourth, fifth) the choices of anyone else. That would make a requirement for two nominations too much.

Yes people definitely favor books available as ebooks. The problem with that policy is that it in turn favors books old enough to be in the public domain or recent enough so that release as an ebook generally occurs simultaneously with the paper book release. That makes any time period from about 1930 to 2000 problematic. That's a lot of great literary works no matter what the category.

...

What is the goal? To nominate literary books, or to nominate literary books that people will read? I can see that there are some hardcore literary participants, but I'm not one of them. I participate in this club because I want to read something I normally wouldn't, but I can always fall back to the other club if this one becomes to tedious.

We had two full nominations using a granularity of 20 years, so bump that up to 40 years? Or, how about, if your the first to nominate a pbook, you must also be the first to nominate an ebook also (otherwise your pbook nomination is null and void)?

Or keep it simple, since this is Mobile Read, all ebook nominations must be available in ebook form.

What is the goal? To nominate literary books, or to nominate literary books that people will read? I can see that there are some hardcore literary participants, but I'm not one of them. I participate in this club because I want to read something I normally wouldn't, but I can always fall back to the other club if this one becomes to tedious.

We had two full nominations using a granularity of 20 years, so bump that up to 40 years? Or, how about, if your the first to nominate a pbook, you must also be the first to nominate an ebook also (otherwise your pbook nomination is null and void)?

Or keep it simple, since this is Mobile Read, all ebook nominations must be available in ebook form.

I think I'll do a poll.

Well as far as the overall goal of the Literary Club that is something that you will have to mainly take up with Sun surfer. The time periods selected for this month as well. My understanding is the goal is to have nominations that meet the test of:

Quote:

What is literature for the purposes of this club? A superior work of lasting merit that enriches the mind. Often it is important, challenging, critically acclaimed. It may be from ancient times to today; it may be from anywhere in the world; it may be obscure or famous, short or long; it may be a story, a novel, a play, a poem, an essay or another written form.

And for this month Sun surfer proposed the additional requirement that the book be from the time period selected in this poll. The period 1981-2000 was the one selected.

Looking at the list of books nominated in the thread above I do not see that the limit to 1981-2000 presented much of a constraint on a lot of great books being nominated. I could have easily nominated three more, two like my actual nominations being available as ebooks and one that is not. I wanted to keep at least two nominations available to use on other peoples nominations though.

As far as limiting the club to ebooks only, as is the case for the other club, that has come up before. If Sun surfer wants to put that issue up for a poll I would not mind. I stand by my statement that limiting to ebook availability will result in severely limiting the choices in the “doughnut hole” between public domain books and books in the last decade or so. The same sort of problem would arise if a 40 year—1961-2000—had been selected.

I only nomintate or vote when it's a book I will read within the next two months. This month that meant I nominated two books and seconded one. That makes it difficult for me to support many of the books sometimes. But it's an accurate assessment on if I will be active in the discussion which is what I think we all want in the end. A book that as many people as possible will read and discuss.

As far as e-books. I don't have access to library e-lending in Canada with a Kindle, but that hasn't stopped me from borrowing paper copies for the book club previously. Yes, I have an e-reader, but it isn't my only option for reading. Budget, availability and wanting to own all affect how I choose to read many titles. Right now e-books count for about 30-40% of my reading. If anyone doesn't want to nominate or vote for a book not available in e-book format, that is their choice.

What is the goal? To nominate literary books, or to nominate literary books that people will read? I can see that there are some hardcore literary participants, but I'm not one of them.

I think I'll do a poll.

I suppose I might be described as a "hardcore Literary participant" but I also have a strong preference for ebooks. I don't want to have to buy a pbook {or HB-book for that matter} and getting a book from the library is a last resort. Perhaps I'm in a minority in those views but a poll to restrict choices to ebooks might be a good idea. Of course, that decision rests with others.

Mobileread...books are quite easy to take with you. Stone tablets, perhaps not Yes, I prefer ebooks too but an actual book is OK sometimes.

that sums up my position, too - I tend to prefer ebooks for practicality, as these days I am travelling quite a bit, and I am afraid that an ordered pbook will get to me after I've left, but in general I do not mind pbooks. In fact, several of my nominations have been pbooks, as I guess like most of us I first think of the book and check availability later.

I'd rather we did not veto any format just because of the format, after all this is a book club, so I'd be happy if we prioritised the content, rather than the vehicle - not to mention that being scattered in different countries, what is an ebook in one place may not be available elsewhere, as we know.

I like my devices, too, but I have to chime in with the camp that says that ebooks only is too restrictive. That goes most especially for a literary club, where an ebooks-only policy would, I fear, steer us either to public domain or to current releases. There goes the 20th century!

With agency pricing and elibrary limitations I'm reading many more pbooks than I was a year ago anyway. I don't see this changing soon. LOL, right now I'm in the middle of five books, all of them pbooks. This leaves me high and dry when I'm out and about and have the odd moment for the 350 that lives in my purse. I'm going to be forced to start a sixth....

If anyone doesn't want to nominate or vote for a book not available in e-book format, that is their choice.

My intention is to read all the selections in both book clubs. As a practical matter, it won't happen. I've already blown it for 2012.

Sometimes I misjudge my commitments and my available time or the unexpected comes up in real life (Leaves of Grass). Sometimes I've already read the book, either too recently to make a re-read appealing (Black Rain) or I didn't like it enough the first time around (unfortunately, this may contraindicate Remains of the Day, depending on the time issue I mentioned first). Sometimes, in all honesty, I'd rather have my fingernails pulled (Unbroken--I suspect, given the example, that this might be an infelicitous metaphor.)

All this is my roundabout and rude way of saying that I agree with HIMS. Despite my best intentions, there are many factors that influence whether or not I'll participate in any given month. If ebook availability is such a factor for an otherwise interested participant, that's the way it goes.

I can be OK with a pbook nomination - but only usually if I already own the pbook. I'm not going to try and source one just for a reading club entry. Firstly, I try not to buy pbooks anymore and secondly, I'm not a member of a local library (don't care to) and taking time out to look for nominated books in the local/regional library would be a step too far for me to bother.

However, I don't have any hard feelings about pbooks being nominated/voted in. Even with ebooks, if I really don't want to read it, a spot at the top of a book club leaderboard is unlikely to change my mind.

It sounds terribly rigid, but it doesn't mean that I don't stretch myself. Last year I read A Room With a View, The Island of Doctor Moreau, A Christmas Carol, The Master and Margarita and The short stories of Saki. None of these were anywhere near a TBR list of mine and I enjoyed them all. It helped that nearly all were free of course.

It would be a shame to pass on this selection only because it's not available as an ebook for everyone. I whizzed through the book yesterday, it's a gem.

I'm biased towards ebooks and am unlikely to nominate a book that's not available as one, but I have nothing against other people nominating DTBs. If something I want to read is selected, then I'm willing to jump through some hoops to read it.